In Asia, one can confidently declare that Singapore is the best in most aspects.
Becoming independent only in 1965, Singapore only has 700 square kilometers of land area and almost without resources then: water, energy, and people.
Today, in the 2023 statistics, it has the highest ASEAN per capita income of $84,734 compared to the Philippines (ranked a poor 7th) at $3,735 behind Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, in that order.
Three game changers
According to one resource person, Singapore did the trick by Lee Kwan Yew doing just three simple things: (a) make English the central medium of communication, education, and business, (b) develop, if not import the best human capital, and (c) instill "zero corruption" consciousness in both government and private sector.
When others argued to use the local dialects, Lee objected that English is the "language of the world" — and dance with it or perish. It was not hard since, for years, Singapore was part of English-speaking Britain. Over the years, "singlish" was also used as a combination of English and three main dialects Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. But English language influence was always there.
When others insisted Singapore relied on local talents, Lee said he would develop local human capital but also first get the best minds abroad that Singapore could afford to train the Singaporeans. Today, Singapore's educational system is ranked among the world's best and trains even the best minds from other countries.
More than technology and capital, education is top on the list.
Governance and private business practices are clean as a whistle there. To insulate government officials from graft and corruption, they are paid exceedingly well—the biggest salary pay scale in the entire world. For instance, the Singapore Prime Minister is paid $2.2 million a year, higher even than the American president.
The price for graft is steep and painful. The Prevention of Corrupt Act (PCA) imposes a fine of $100,000 and a jail term of five years or both. If the graft involves a government contract, the jail term is increased to seven years.
Its Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) is very strict, and it investigates all corruption cases regardless of rank and party. However, the key to this iron-clad investigation route and no-nonsense prosecution is Singapore’s “very high conviction rate,” which indicates a very strong legal framework and incorruptible judges.
Singapore is also impeccably clean with green walls, water features, spick and span pavements, and modern public comfort rooms. Try spitting or throwing bubble gum on the streets of that city- and you will see that the city means business. It has passed a law requiring almost P5 million (Singapore dollars) just to be able to own a vehicle, so its public transport system is modern and always accessible anywhere any time. They want to keep their air fresh and clean.
The Philippine approach
The Philippines, on the other hand, became independent ages ahead of Singapore and is blessed with an archipelago teeming with natural resources. But what happened?
It has 118 million people, but at least 10 million go abroad to find job opportunities lacking in the country. We have exported some of our best and brightest minds to benefit other countries first.
English is spoken — but broken English is more prevalent — fractured by an educational system that has been exposed recently, having produced teens who had among the lowest proficiency in reading, math, and science in the whole world. Not too long ago, the asinine project of using Tagalog as the medium of instruction (ouch) and books in the Department of Education were found to be faulty and erroneous (ouch, again). Many children at five years old are considered malnourished - impeding their brain growth and physicality.
In the not-too-distant past, internet services here were considered among the slowest but most expensive in the world—how is that for modern technology?
And corruption? Tell me about it. For so long, the country has been in the last quartile of the worst (corrupted) nations in the world. Elections are flawed, and corruption reeks from the lowly barangay to the Palace (not necessarily the president). There are “hoodlums in robes,” and the justice system here—to say the least—needs more than just massive reforms.
"Justice delayed, justice denied"- is a common phrase in the Philippines. And the conviction rate here — especially for high-level graft — is almost a joke if it was not tragic. No wonder graft and corruption have become a way of life — to the point that people sometimes take it by their chin — grin and bear it.
Here, 21 percent of the people (about 24 million people) live below the poverty line, and the government had to institute the PPP (direct dole-outs) to keep their heads above water. The squalor, especially in the urban area’s poor districts, is so bad that even rats flee there to better habitats.
The transport system is so bad that sometimes, at peak hours, people line up for hours for public transport, so everyone struggles to own a vehicle — car or motorcycle — to get by, thus increasing pollution.
The above, in three simple contrasted ways, tells the tale of why Singapore and the Philippines are what they are—a crying shame, indeed.
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Bingo Dejaresco, a former banker, is a financial consultant, media practitioner and author. He is a Life and Media member of FINEX. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of FINEX. [email protected].